Ed’s inbox – March 2nd

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

If Ed Miliband could only read five blogposts each day, he’d read these ones…

Why Labour is the Left’s only hope – Left Futures
By Owen Jones

It’s a debate that has raged on the left since 1900, when an alliance of trade unions and left-wing groups decided that working people needed a political voice and set up the Labour Representation Committee. Is Labour the left’s only hope, or is it a thoroughly reactionary obstacle on the glorious onwards march to socialism?

So why bother wading in to an unresolved century-old debate, you may wonder. Well, for a start the left is at a particularly critical juncture in its history. We face one of the most right-wing governments of modern times, and it is planning a dramatic re-ordering of British society with “Maoist” zeal (as Vince Cable would have it). The left as a whole still remains devoid of any coherent political response. Lefties of all stripes simply cannot ignore Labour as part of any strategy to take on the Government. – Read more.

So why did Osborne cancel his speech? – Hopi Sen
By Hopi Sen

Paul Waugh reports George Osborne cancelled his planned speech on the economy, one that was intended, perhaps, to follow up on Newsnight’s reporting of a pledge of a tax cut for those earning £35,000 or less each year.

Labour list has more. Sunder Katwala explains why it’s significant.

Leaving aside the possibility that the pledge is simply restating the personal allowance changes announced in the June 2010 Budget, let’s assume that what Osborne is looking at is an increase in the tax free personal allowance for basic rate taxpayer. – Read more.

If we believe in the UN, we must campaign to reform it – Next Left
By Sunder Katwala

The United Nations General Assembly has voted unanimously to suspend Libya’s membership of the UN Human Rights Council, following the shock of discovering that the Gaddafi regime is engaging in gross and systematic violations” of the rights of its people..

Perhaps that deserves only one cheer, though it is an important and unprecedented development. The UNHRC retains several members, whose unsuitability as stewards as human rights principles is equally evident. – Read more.

At home and abroad, Cameron sets up policies which cannibalise each other – Alastair Campbell
By Alastair Campbell

It has been mildly comical to hear David Cameron for so long bemoaning the centralising, strategising ways of the Blair government, and now seeking to emulate the systems he decried. As his new Number Ten team gets to work, may I gently suggest that they adopt the motto that used to inform my own approach when there – get a grip. – Read more.

The “New Bus For London” – Literally Monstrous – Boris Watch
By Helen

I was up at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden for opening time this morning, enabling me to get in an hour’s worth (before the arrival of school parties) of viewing of the exterior and lower interior (through the windows and doors) of the mock-up of the “New Bus For London”.

First impression: monstrous. Literally. It is huge. No dimensions on the bus itself or on the one information panel on the floor so I was reduced to pacing out the length of the bus. New Bus: 20 paces. Routemaster: 15 paces. It’s very easy to compare the two as there’s a number 11 RM yards away from the New Bus. The actual length of the RM is 8.38m – the New Bus is 11.2m. – Read more.

Our suggestions for Ed’s inbox are limited by what we read – so if you’ve seen a blogpost that should be in Ed’s inbox, let us know.